Book of hours : use of Utrecht : in Flemish

Item Information

Title:
Book of hours : use of Utrecht : in Flemish
Creator:
Catholic Church
Translator:
Groote, Gerard, 1340-1384
Former owner:
Meyer, Jean de, -1869
Former owner:
Andrews, William Loring, 1837-1920
Former owner:
Bishop, Cortlandt F. (Cortlandt Field), 1870-1935
Former owner:
Wells, Gabriel, 1862-1946
Auctioneer:
American Art Association, Anderson Galleries (Firm)
Date:
[1460–1480]
Format:
Manuscripts
Books
Genre:
Illuminations
Manuscripts, Dutch--Netherlands
Manuscripts, Medieval--Netherlands
Books of hours
Blind tooled bindings
Wooden boards
Metal clasps
Catches
Bookplates
Gothic scripts
devotional calendars
Location:
Boston Public Library
Rare Books Department
Collection (local):
Medieval and Early Renaissance Manuscripts (Collection of Distinction)
Subjects:
Christian women--Prayers and devotions
Places:
Netherlands > South Holland (province) > Delft
Extent:
134 leaves : parchment, ill. ; 168 x 125 (92 x 63) mm
Permalink:
https://ark.digitalcommonwealth.org/ark:/50959/th83qg35q
Terms of Use:
No known copyright restrictions.
No known restrictions on use.
Place of origin:
[Delft]
Language:
Dutch
Table of Contents:
1. fol. 1-12v: calendar, use of Utrecht.
2. fol. 13-32v: Hours of Eternal Wisdom (van Wijk, pp. 92-112)
3. fol. 33-55v: Hours of the Holy Cross (van Wijk, pp. 113-138)
4. fol. 56-79v: Hours of the Holy Spirit (van Wijk, pp. 71-86)
5. fol. 80-114v: Hours of the Virgin (van Wijk, pp. 36-70)
6. fol. 115-134v: Penitential Psalms and Litany (van Wijk, pp. 139-154)
Notes:
Ms. codex.
Bibliographic record created by BPL staff based on description by Dr. Lisa Fagin Davis and on entry 124 in the Beyond Words exhibition catalog (James H. Marrow).
Origin: Written in Delft between 1460 and 1480, likely for a female house of the Third Order of St. Francis. The calendar contains entries in red for the two major saints of Delft (Hippolytus and Ursula and the 11,000 Virgins). Geert Grote (1340-1384) was a theologian based in Utrecht whose translation of the Latin Book of Hours into Flemish was intended to facilitate the direct communication between the individual and God that was the at the heart of the Devotio moderna.
Notes (ownership):
Provenance: 19th-century description pasted inside front cover noting the purchase of the manuscript from Jean de Meyer of Ghent, Nov. 1869 (Camile Vyt catalogue, Nov. 1869, nr. 57); later belonged to William Loring Andrews -- printer, bookbinder, collector, and founder of The Grolier Club (1837-1920) -- his bookplate on front flyleaf; then belonged to Cortland Bishop, his bookplate on front flyleaf. This manuscript is probably that listed among the Bishop collection in de Ricci, Census I:1659, no. 25, later sold by American Art/Anderson with the Bishop collection on 25 April 1938, lot 1410.
Notes (acquisition):
Immediate source of acquisition: Purchased by BPL in December 1939 from Gabriel Wells.
Notes (date):
This date is inferred.
Notes (citation):
Ricci, S. de. Census of medieval and Renaissance manuscripts in the United States and Canada, 1, 1659, entry 25
Bond, W.H. Supplement to the Census of medieval and Renaissance manuscripts in the United States and Canada, 208
Notes (object):
Secundo folio: Martius maert dese maent ...
Collation: Parchment, fol. ii (parchment) + 134 + iii (parchment) ; 1-2⁶ 3-4⁸ 5⁴ 6-7⁸ 8⁸⁻¹ (one cancel before fol. 49), 9-13⁸ 14⁸⁻¹ (one cancel after fol. 102) 15¹⁰ 16² 17-18⁸ 19⁴ ; catchwords on lower right corner of final verso of each quire. Modern arabic pencil foliation in upper, outer corner each page.
Layout: Single column, 20 lines; bounding and writing lines in light plummet.
Script: Written in a gothic bookhand in black ink with red rubrics.
Decoration (primary): Four nine- or ten-line historiated initials as follows: Christ holding an orb, right hand raised in blessing (fol. 13, Hours of Eternal Wisdom) -- Christ holding the scourge, wounds covering his face (fol. 33, Hours of the Holy Cross) -- Holy Spirit as a dove, descending toward nimbed apostles (fol. 56, Hours of the Holy Spirit) -- Virgin at prayer, Angel Gabriel with "Ave Maria" banderole (fol. 80, Hours of the Virgin) -- King David at prayer receiving God's blessing (fol. 115, Penitential Psalms).
Decoration (secondary): Two- to four-line blue and red puzzle initials with blue and red filigree throughout, six-line initial in same scheme on fol. 14. Most pages have at least a partial red and blue filigree border, full at the beginning of each section of the manuscript. At the beginning of each Hour, the border, even when only partial, is elaborated with gold balls and also includes a marginal figure with a Dutch banderole (some in verse, and often with a clear connection to the main text): fol. 13, 14, 22v, 24, 26, 27v, 29, 31, 33, 39v, 43v, 45, 47, 49, 51, 56, 66, 68, 70, 72, 74, 80, 95, 98v, 101, 103v, 106, 111, 115, 126, 127, 128, 129. Consult description by Lisa Fagin Davis for further information.
Binding: Early calf over boards, blindstamped with dragons, florets and a rooster, with silver-plate wrought clasps: the upper catch an armorial shield with a bridge, the upper clasp of St. Anne holding the Virgin and Child, and the lower clasp of St. Katharine defeating a devil. Vellum repairs to inside covers presumably applied over the damage made by the clasp nails, still visible on the flyleaves.
Notes (bibliography):
Bibliography: Jeffrey Hamburger, et al., eds. Beyond Words: Illuminated Manuscripts in Boston Collections (Chestnut Hill: McMullen Museum of Art, Boston College, 2016) no. 124; C. Boot, "Medieval Netherlandic Manuscripts in Libraries in the State of Massachusetts" Archief-en bibliotheekwezen in Belgie 50 (1979): 361-366; N. van Wijk, Het getijdenboek van Geert Grote (Leiden, 1940).
Notes (language):
In Flemish.
Identifier:
06_01_018666
Call #:
RARE BKS MS q Med.86
MS 1513 (no longer used)
Barcode:
39999085232575